Bush Signs Sweeping Anti-Terrorism Surveillance Bill into Law

October 26, 2001

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush today signed into law an anti-terrorism package, called the Patriot Act, giving law enforcement vast new powers to secretly search homes, tap telephone conversations and track Internet use despite warnings from human rights and privacy advocates that the legislation goes too far. The final legislation does include a few changes: most notably, a sunset on the electronic surveillance provisions, and an amendment providing judicial oversight of law enforcement's use of the FBI's Carnivore system. However, it retains provisions vastly expanding government investigative authority, especially with respect to the Internet.

The Senate voted 98-1 on President Bush's anti-terrorism legislation before leaving yesterday. Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said on Thursday, ``There is no question that we will vote on this piece of legislation today. And we will pass this legislation today,'' he said.

Since the terrorist attacks, Bush and Attorney General John Ashcroft have demanded legislation to expand the FBI's wiretapping and electronic surveillance authority, impose stronger penalties on those who harbor or finance terrorists and increase punishments of terrorists.

``These laws will help ensure that Americans will never be violated in the way we were on September 11,'' said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The bill, approved by the House 357-66 on Wednesday, went to the White House today for Bush's signature after Senate approval only yesterday.

However, human rights and privacy advocates contend many problems remain in the final compromise.

``These new and unchecked powers could be used against American citizens who are not under criminal investigation, immigrants who are here within our borders legally, and also against those whose First Amendment activities are deemed to be a threat to national security by the attorney general,'' an American Civil Liberties Union letter says.

One of the most contentious portions of Bush's proposal would have allowed the attorney general to detain indefinitely until deportation any immigrant suspected of terrorism. House and Senate negotiators placed safeguards on that proposal by forcing to the attorney general to start deportation procedures immediately, charge the person with a crime or release the foreigner in seven days.

Some human rights advocates wanted it changed even more so that immigrants would not have to stay in jail while their cases go through the deportation process.

That ``can result in a virtual life sentence, and the bill provides only the barest of judicial oversight of the attorney general's new power,'' said Elisa Massimino, director of the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights.

The president praised the quick movement of the legislation. ``I look forward to signing this strong bipartisan plan into law so that we can combat terrorism and prevent future attacks,'' Bush said in a statement yesterday.

Read the text of the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT) Act of 2001 (Public Law 107-56) (PDF format).

ACLU Pledges to Monitor Impact on Civil Liberties, Continue to Work with Administration Officials

October 26, 2001

WASHINGTON -- As President Bush today signed the new sweeping law enforcement legislation, the American Civil Liberties Union pledged anew to work with the Bush Administration and law enforcement agencies to ensure that civil liberties in America are not eroded by the newly approved USA Patriot Act.

"The passage of this broad legislation is by no means the end of the story," said Anthony D. Romero, ACLU Executive Director. "We will now work with ACLU affiliates around the country to monitor its implementation. The ACLU remains firm in our belief that we can be both safe and free."

This afternoon, in fact, ACLU officials are scheduled to meet with FBI Director Robert Mueller, the second meeting in what the ACLU hopes will be a continuing dialogue with the nation's top law enforcement authorities. In addition to Mueller, ACLU representatives have met in recent weeks with high-level representatives of the Federal Aviation Administration and numerous Congressional leaders as the nation has grappled with the aftermath of the tragic terrorist attacks against the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the new wave of anthrax poisonings.

The ACLU said that it would soon request meetings with James Ziglar, Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization Service, Gov. Tom Ridge, the Director of Homeland Security, and other key administration officials, including Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, to express its continuing concerns about the sweeping anti-terrorism legislation, the secrecy surrounding the detainees and other government actions.

"We cannot as a nation allow very legitimate public anxiety to immunize the Administration and Congress from their obligation to protect the Bill of Rights and the fundamental
values that document embodies," said Laura W. Murphy, Director of the ACLU's Washington National Office.

Congress adopted the bill signed into law today in near record time with only one public hearing and little debate. In fact, under intense pressure from Attorney General John
Ashcroft, Republican leaders in the House torpedoed compromise legislation adopted unanimously by the House Judiciary Committee in a late-night deal with the
Justice Department.

"These new and unchecked powers," said Gregory T. Nojeim, Associate Director of the ACLU's Washington Office, "could be used against American citizens who are not under criminal investigation, immigrants who are here within our borders legally and also against those whose First Amendment activities are deemed to be threats to
national security by the Attorney General."

On Wednesday, the ACLU applauded the 66 members of the House of Representatives who voted against the final version of anti-terrorism legislation, saying that they acted bravely to preserve civil liberties in America in the face of enormous pressure from the Bush Administration. In a letter to the full House, which adopted the legislation by a vote of 357 to 66, the ACLU said the USA Patriot Act (HR 3162) would give enormous, unwarranted power to the executive branch unchecked by meaningful judicial review. Most of the new powers, the ACLU said, could be used against American citizens in routine criminal investigations completely unrelated to terrorism.

"These new and unchecked powers could be used against American citizens who are not under criminal investigation, immigrants who are here within our borders legally and also against those whose First Amendment activities are deemed to be threats to national security by the Attorney General," said Gregory T. Nojeim, Associate Director of the ACLU's Washington National Office.

With House offices closed and staff unable to access their papers, Murphy said that the process that brought the final version of the bill to the floor is deeply flawed and an
offense to the thoughtful legislative process necessary to protect the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

"In past times of tragedy and fear, our government has harassed, investigated and arrested people solely because of their race, religion, national origin, speech or political beliefs," the ACLU said. "We must not allow that to happen again even as we work together to protect ourselves from future terrorist attacks."

The ACLU then wrote to the Senate urging rejection of the final version of the Patriot Act, stating, "This is an historic vote based upon a false dichotomy: that safety must come at the expense of civil liberties. We can be safe and fight terrorism without substantially surrendering our civil liberties, and without giving enormous, unwarranted power to the executive branch - which can be used against U.S. citizens -- unchecked by meaningful judicial review."

The ACLU's letter to the Senate follows:

October 23, 2001

Dear Representative:

The American Civil Liberties Union is writing to urge you to reject the final version of the anti-terrorism legislation, the Uniting and Strengthening America By Providing Appropriate Tools Required To Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (H.R. 3162, the "USA PATRIOT Act"). This is an historic vote that is based upon a false dichotomy: that safety must come at the expense of civil liberties. We can be safe and fight terrorism without substantially surrendering our civil liberties, and without giving enormous, unwarranted power to the executive branch - which can be used against U.S. citizens -- unchecked by meaningful judicial review.

The process that brought you this bill is terribly flawed. We find it deeply disturbing that once again the full House will be forced to vote on legislation that Members have not had the opportunity to read. House offices are closed and staff cannot even access their papers to fully prepare members of Congress for this important vote. Once again, a bill is coming to the House floor that bears little resemblance to the significantly modified version of the bill unanimously adopted by the House Judiciary Committee on October 3, 2001. No conference committee met to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill. Regular order is being rejected and it is an offense to the thoughtful legislative procedures necessary to protect the Constitution and Bill of Rights at a time when the rights of so many Americans are being jeopardized.

While it contains provisions that we support, the American Civil Liberties Union believes that the USA PATRIOT Act gives the Attorney General and federal law enforcement unnecessary and permanent new powers to violate civil liberties that go far beyond the stated goal of fighting international terrorism. These new and unchecked powers could be used against American citizens who are not under criminal investigation, immigrants who are here within our borders legally, and also against those whose First Amendment activities are deemed to be threats to national security by the Attorney General.

We believe that the legislation confers new powers on the Executive Branch and federal law enforcement that go beyond what is necessary to fight terrorism. Notwithstanding all of the exhortations by the Attorney General to pass this legislation quickly, the House should take more time to review and fully debate the broad new authorities given to federal law enforcement in the various provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act.

Among the bill's most troubling provisions are measures that would:

• Permit the Attorney General to indefinitely incarcerate or detain non-citizens based on mere suspicion, and to deny re-admission to the United States of non-citizens (including lawful permanent residents) for engaging in speech protected by the First Amendment.
  
  
• Minimize judicial supervision of telephone and Internet surveillance by law enforcement authorities in anti-terrorism investigations and in routine criminal investigations unrelated to terrorism.
  
  
• Expand the ability of the government to conduct secret searches -- again in anti-terrorism investigations and in routine criminal investigations unrelated to terrorism.
  
  
• Give the Attorney General and the Secretary of State the power to designate domestic groups as terrorist organizations and block any non-citizen who belongs to them from entering the country. Under this provision the payment of membership dues is a deportable offense.
  
  
• Grant the FBI broad access to sensitive medical, financial, mental health, and educational records about individuals without having to show evidence of a crime and without a court order.
  
  
• Lead to large-scale investigations of American citizens for "intelligence" purposes and use of intelligence authorities to by-pass probable cause requirements in criminal cases.
  
  
• Put the CIA and other intelligence agencies back in the business of spying on Americans by giving the Director of Central Intelligence the authority to identify priority targets for intelligence surveillance in the United States.
  
  
• Allow searches of highly personal financial records without notice and without judicial review based on a very low standard that does not require probable cause of a crime or even relevancy to an ongoing terrorism investigation.
  
  
• Allow student records to be searched based on a very low standard of relevancy to an investigation.
  
  
• Create a broad new definition of "domestic terrorism" that could sweep in people who engage in acts of political protest and subject them to wiretapping and enhanced penalties.

In past times of tragedy and fear, our government has harassed, investigated and arrested people solely because of their race, religion, national origin, speech or political beliefs. We must not allow this to happen again, even as we work together to protect ourselves from future terrorist attacks. For these reasons, the ACLU urges you to vote against the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001. For more information about the bill, please visit our website at http://www.aclu.org.

Sincerely,

Laura W. Murphy
Director, ACLU Washington Office

Gregory T. Nojeim
Associate Director & Chief Legislative Counsel

EPIC's Analysis of Provisions of the Proposed Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001 Affecting Privacy

September 24, 2001

In response to the horrendous attacks that occurred on September 11, Attorney General Ashcroft has proposed the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001 (ATA), a far-reaching legislative package intended to strengthen the nation’s defense against terrorism. Several of ATA’s provisions would vastly expand the authority of law enforcement and intelligence agencies to monitor private communications and access personal information. Those provisions address issues that are complex and implicate fundamental constitutional protections of individual liberty, including the appropriate procedures for interception of information transmitted over the Internet and other rapidly evolving technologies. Despite the complexity of these matters, the Attorney General has urged Congress to quickly approve the proposal, which became available for analysis only within the last several days. As Congress considers this important piece of legislation, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) feels it should be guided by several critical factors.

Read EPIC's analysis of the act.